Szijjarto in talks with Belarus FM: ‘Hope for peace hinges on keeping open communication channels’

Posting on Facebook on Wednesday, Szijjarto said he had told Aleynik that the war in Ukraine “is causing [Hungary] much damage as a neighboring country in terms of economic and energy problems.”

He told his counterpart that any decisions or measure that risked prolonging or escalating the war was “against our national interests”, and peace should be secured as quickly as possible. Cooperation in economic areas not affected by sanctions, mainly in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and agriculture, will continue, Szijjarto said.

The minister also asked Aleynik to intervene to lift a blockade of Hungarian truck drivers stranded on Belarus’s western border.

Meanwhile, Szijjarto said the death in November of Vladimir Makei, Aleynik’s predecessor, had “hit them hard”.